| Páginas sobre el tema: [1 2] > | Off topic: Do you obey your spell-checker software? Autor de la hebra: Heinrich Pesch
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Heinrich Pesch 
Finlandia
Local time: 21:17
Miembro 2003
finlandés al alemán
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Perhaps you know the issue. I use Word as spell-checker, but there are some expressions where the software marks a word as wrong though it is perfectly right. In such a case one might feel the obligation of choosing another expression to make the software "satisfied". Or one might think that the customer would think you have not proofread your translation properly.
Does that sound silly?
| | | | Samuel Murray
Países Bajos
Local time: 20:17
Miembro 2006
inglés al afrikaans
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| Not so much in my native language | Jul 30, 2020 |
Heinrich Pesch wrote:
In such a case one might feel the obligation of choosing another expression to make the software "satisfied".
I eagerly ignore any complaints from my spell-checker in my native language, unless it is clearly a typo, but when my second-language spell-checker complaints, I'm more willing to doubt myself and either accept the suggested change, change the words so that the issue no longer exists, or double-check a dictionary.
On a similar note, when I write e-mails and I find that there is too much of a space at the end if a line, I change the wording so that the block of text looks more pleasant. This is illogical, of course, because it depends not only on the width of the window I'm working on but also on the width of the window of the reader reading it.
| | | | Tom in London
Reino Unido
Local time: 19:17
Miembro 2008
italiano al inglés
| One really annoying thing about the spellchecker in Word... | Jul 30, 2020 |
...when I set it to British English, is that it thinks "program" is a word.
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Tom in London wrote:
...when I set it to British English, is that it thinks "program" is a word.
That’s because it is...
I switched from ize to ise to keep Word happy many years ago
Otherwise the English ones are almost always right
But I never use the grammar checker
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| All machine QA produces a lot of false alarms | Jul 30, 2020 |
The Word spell checker is quite good but even it delivers a lot of false alarms and it makes no sense to change a text just so that the false alarms go away. Other spell checkers are often far worse and produce enormous amounts of false alarms, so that I have stopped taking these spell checkers seriously at all. German has more complex grammar than English and allows you to invent new compounds on the spot, and automatic spell checkers simply cannot keep up with that.
| | | | | False negatives/False positives | Jul 30, 2020 |
Well, spell-check software are basically designed to compare strings of characters with a fixed set of "correct structures" and "correct spellings". If the string in question fits any of these rules, then it is marked as correct; if not, it is marked as incorrect.
However, the rules the program "knows" cannot in any way contemplate all possible words and phrases that could be acceptable in every dialect of a language - natural languages are flexible. Then, spell-checkers usually hig... See more Well, spell-check software are basically designed to compare strings of characters with a fixed set of "correct structures" and "correct spellings". If the string in question fits any of these rules, then it is marked as correct; if not, it is marked as incorrect.
However, the rules the program "knows" cannot in any way contemplate all possible words and phrases that could be acceptable in every dialect of a language - natural languages are flexible. Then, spell-checkers usually highlight neologisms, derived words, and non-standard forms, and the like. These can easily be explained to the customer as "false negatives", if necessary.
By the way, it is equally possible to find a mistake in a text which the spell-checker marked as correct (that is, a "false positive"). ▲ Collapse
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I "Add to dictionary"
Removing fish bones is called désarêtage, as I learned today from the web. One more in the custom dictionary.
Word spell checks help me spot typos, while grammar checks detect the odd wrong agreement/number. Even if corrections suggested are wrong, it may help me check agreements/number with bizarre associations like feminine "et" masculine + adjective for both.
Philippe
[Edited at 2020-07-30 12:35 GMT]
| | | | Jessica Noyes
Estados Unidos
Local time: 14:17
Miembro
español al inglés
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Tom in London wrote:
...when I set it to British English, is that it thinks "program" is a word.
I thought that even in the UK, you can 'program' your computer to run on Linux.
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Tom in London
Reino Unido
Local time: 19:17
Miembro 2008
italiano al inglés
Chris S wrote:
That’s because it is...
Not in British English. In British English the word is "programme". You may not like that spelling any more than I do, and I am a big fan of Webster's simplification of English; nevertheless in British English, regardless of anyone's personal predilections, the word is "programme".
| | | | expressisverbis
Portugal
Local time: 19:17
Miembro 2015
inglés al portugués
+ ...
| I rely on my spell-checker, but I trust myself more. | Jul 30, 2020 |
Although a spell checker is a handy tool for general use, I trust myself more.
Since the new Portuguese Language Orthographic Agreement of 1990 was adopted, I sometimes need to switch from the new agreement to the old one and vice-versa.
In this case the spell checker can be useful, but I rely more on my skills, and knowledge of my native language.
In addition, I always use other resources too, such as dictionaries, grammars, and thesauri, style guides (I have my own), other on... See more Although a spell checker is a handy tool for general use, I trust myself more.
Since the new Portuguese Language Orthographic Agreement of 1990 was adopted, I sometimes need to switch from the new agreement to the old one and vice-versa.
In this case the spell checker can be useful, but I rely more on my skills, and knowledge of my native language.
In addition, I always use other resources too, such as dictionaries, grammars, and thesauri, style guides (I have my own), other online spelling checkers, etc.
All these tools can be extremely helpful (paper or online formats), but there are no better "spelling checkers" than us.
No, I do not obey it or rely on it heavily. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Tina Vonhof (X)
Canadá
Local time: 12:17
neerlandés al inglés
+ ...
My spellchecker is based on US English, so I ignore it in cases where Canadian English is different. It is also very picky about 'missing' hyphens when in fact that word has long since been accepted as one word. The grammar check can be useful occasionally, but most of the time I turn it off because I find it distracting.
I always do a final check with PerfectIt. In addition to its general features that you can choose from, it has style sheets for every version of English plus speci... See more My spellchecker is based on US English, so I ignore it in cases where Canadian English is different. It is also very picky about 'missing' hyphens when in fact that word has long since been accepted as one word. The grammar check can be useful occasionally, but most of the time I turn it off because I find it distracting.
I always do a final check with PerfectIt. In addition to its general features that you can choose from, it has style sheets for every version of English plus special ones, such as European Union, United Nations, WHO, etc. It really does 'perfect' your final text. ▲ Collapse
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Tom in London wrote:
in British English, regardless of anyone's personal predilections, the word is "programme".
Apart from when the word is program.
In British English, when it comes to computer software, regardless of anyone’s personal predilections, the word is “program”.
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Vi Pukite
Estados Unidos
Local time: 11:17
letón al inglés
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| Both right, both wrong? | Jul 30, 2020 |
@Tom, @Chris
According to the Oxford Dictionary, 'programme' is UK and 'program' is US for all senses of the word except that for the software sense both are acceptable for UK English (see https://www.lexico.com/definition/programme).
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Chris S wrote:
In British English, when it comes to computer software, regardless of anyone’s personal predilections, the word is “program”.
This is not some neologism either. That spelling in the UK has been around at least since the late 1960s, when I first got my hands on a computer.
| | | | | I distinguish between IT and other programmes | Jul 31, 2020 |
Tom in London wrote:
...when I set it to British English, is that it thinks "program" is a word.
The Concise Oxford Dictionary does not seem to recognise program, and the Advanced Learner's says it is AmE.
However, according to the Longman Guide to English Usage, program is used in the context of computers in British English, and I make the distinction.
I started using -ise in my late teens, I think, under the influence of a beloved and very wise English teacher. She may have been influenced by Sir Ernest Gowers: The Complete Plain Words, and I certainly have (Page 70 in the version revised by his granddaughter Rebecca Gowers).
I keep an eye on the spelling checker, but certainly do not always follow it.
Apart from finding false errors, it does not catch some of my most frequent typing errors - form instead of from, or occasionally the other way round, if or of in the wrong (wring) places, ad a missing letter when I mean and ...
In Danish, composite nouns are formed - similar to schoolteacher, roadway, and so on, but far more frequently than in English. The composite noun may have a very different meaning from the two words when separated. The spell-checker suggests splitting them up in many cases where it is incorrect.
There are other problems too - and I resist reformulating to pacify the spelling checker. If clients ask, I tell them that is the difference between a human translator who understands the text and a machine that oversimplifies the rules.
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